Submitting an XML sitemap is a vital step in ensuring that search engines can crawl and index your website efficiently. It helps search engines discover and understand the structure of your site, ensuring that all your important pages are included in search results.
There are several methods available for submitting a sitemap, each with different levels of control and reporting. This guide will walk you through three common methods for submitting your sitemap: the robots.txt method, the Google Search Console method, and the Google Ping method.
1. The Robots.txt Method:
Why submit a sitemap via the robots.txt file?
- This method is accessible to all search engine bots, making it suitable for informing multiple search engines about your sitemap.
- It doesn’t require Google Search Console (GSC) access.
- You can submit sitemaps for different domains and sub-domains through this method.
Instructions:
Simply add the following line to your website’s robots.txt file: Sitemap: https://www.domain.com/sitemap.xml
Potential Errors & Troubleshooting:
- Use absolute URLs: Make sure to use the full URL of the sitemap, not a relative one.
- Caching issues: Search engines may not revisit the robots.txt file immediately, meaning the sitemap might not be discovered right away. If you’ve updated it, you can resubmit the robots.txt file via the respective search engine’s console to inform them of the update.
2. The Google Search Console Method:
Why submit a sitemap via Google Search Console?
This method offers the most feedback. It provides data on how the sitemap was handled, how many URLs were found, and their indexability status via the coverage report.
Keep in mind that this method only submits the sitemap to Google. We recommend combining it with the robots.txt method for broader search engine visibility.
Instructions:
Check out this instructive video from Google Webmaster
- Log in to your Google Search Console property.
- Navigate to the “Sitemaps” section under the “Index” tab.
- Enter the URL of your sitemap in the “Add a new sitemap” field.
- Click Submit.
After submission, there are three possible outcomes:
- Success! – The sitemap was processed successfully with no errors. All URLs are queued for crawling.
- Has Errors – The sitemap was parsed, but errors were found. Click the sitemap in the table to view the list of errors and their details.
- Couldn’t Fetch – Google could not fetch the sitemap, likely due to an HTTP error or robots.txt block.
Potential Errors & Troubleshooting:
- Status: Has Errors – If errors are present, check the list of URLs with issues. Common errors might be invalid URLs or inaccessible pages. See full error descriptions.
- Status: Couldn’t Fetch – If Google can’t fetch the sitemap, ensure Googlebot is not blocked by the robots.txt file. Use the URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console to check if there are access issues, or use the Mobile-Friendly Test or Rich Results Test for further investigation.
3. The Google Ping Method:
Why submit a sitemap via the Ping method?
- The Google Ping method allows you to notify Google of your sitemap, even if you don’t have access to Google Search Console or prefer a simpler method.
- While this method doesn’t provide feedback or error reports, it serves as a quick way to request Google to crawl your sitemap.
Instructions:
- Open your browser’s address bar.
Paste the following URL: http://www.google.com/ping?sitemap=<complete_url_of_sitemap>
- Replace <complete_url_of_sitemap> with the full URL of your sitemap (e.g., https://www.domain.com/sitemap.xml).
- After submitting the request, you should receive a confirmation response indicating that the ping was successful.
Relevant Documentation & Tools:
- Sitemaps XML format protocol | sitemaps.org
- Learn about sitemaps | Google Search Central
- Build and submit a sitemap | Google Search Central
- Manage your sitemaps using the Sitemaps report | Search Console Help
